Dear Parishioners and Friends,
In today’s second reading for Pentecost Sunday, we hear these words from St. Paul, written to the Christians in Corinth: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
This parish community of St. Patrick-St. Anthony very definitely embodies Paul’s message! We bring our spiritual gifts, different forms of service and works, and we use them for the benefit of others. Whether it be our ministry at Sunday liturgies or our daily endeavors to feed the hungry, we are a people endowed by the Holy Spirit to serve one another with dedication and commitment. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”
In a few weeks, our parish will be enriched by our program “Source and Summit, Sacrifice and Supper: The Meaning of the Eucharist.” All that we do for one another, empowered by the Holy Spirit given to us at Baptism, comes from the Eucharist – the source and summit of our Christian life.
But first, let us take a few moments to remember that all of this is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Great Doxology which concludes the Eucharistic Prayer says it best: “Through him, and with him and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and power is yours, for ever and ever. Amen.”
All that we are and all that we do are a result of the Holy Spirit having come upon us and imbuing us with a power that often goes under-appreciated, or worse, under-used! It took me a long time to come to appreciate the remarkable gift that the Holy Spirit is to the Church and to each baptized Christian. Let’s not let the gift lie unused!
Blessings on your week ahead!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M., Pastor